


Bathtub Blues (What Can I Do For You?)

by TelepathicTeaTime



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Dorks in Love, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, and is also her ride or die cheerleader, in which seahawk is the reason mermista isn't a total wreck in boys' night out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 08:43:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21491542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TelepathicTeaTime/pseuds/TelepathicTeaTime
Summary: Mermista, usually so cool and aloof, finds herself struggling with painful emotions after her kingdom falls to the evil clutches of the Horde. It's a fight Seahawk will do everything in his power to help her overcome, have it be braving the discomfort of soggy clothes or adding royal ice cream theft to his criminal record.Takes place between Mer-Mysteries & Boys' Night Out of S4
Relationships: Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 154





	Bathtub Blues (What Can I Do For You?)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi episodes 7 & 8 of She-Ra S4 positively destroyed me with Merhawk/ Seamista feelings so I had no choice but to write this fic before those feelings suffocated me!  
I know in Boys Night Out Mermista was dealing with the fall of Salineas more like a... bad breakup?? For some reason??? But I imagine in the immediate aftermath of seeing her kingdom destroyed she was in much worse shape. I wanted to provide a bit of a bridge you could say between her reactions, and who else would be better fit to help her cross this bridge than her ride or die himbo of a boyfriend Seahawk, amirite?!  
Hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for taking the time to read my work!

Now while it was true and would always remain true that Seahawk was the bravest, most iron-nerved pirate to ever sail the seas and traverse the lands of Etheria, even he was not immune to moments of…  _ uncertainty. _

Yes,  _ uncertainty!  _ Definitely, absolutely  _ not  _ fear!

While other sailors had their own little ways of combating a case of rattled nerves, have it be a bright and shining earring to keep them from drowning in the ocean’s embrace (he wore his own two exceptionally well if he did say so himself!) or soaking their ship’s decks in the finest of wines for hopes of safe voyage (he was more inclined to quench his own ships’ thirsts with oil and matches but alas, the voyage part rarely followed such a toast…) Seahawk was not like mere  _ other  _ sailors. Oh no, he had a particularly special ritual for when he was frighte- when fate was testing just how mighty his mental and emotional fortitude really were!

And that ritual was to obsess over every single one of his many and wonderful skills he had to offer the world. After all, how could one obsess over the terrible and unjust occuring around them if they were too busy being awed by all the greatness shining within them? It just wasn’t possible, of course, and that was why it was Seahawk’s go to for such rare occasions. It was such an effective technique, it could keep even  _ his _ vast and intellectual mind occupied for hours!

Oh yes, if some fortunate soul was ever granted the honour of composing a list of all of Seahawk’s talents, they would find simple parchment would be nowhere near enough room to list them all in their spectacular glory. They would need an entire book- no, even better, a great and vast sail from a beautiful sea vessel to record all his great exploits. They could use every inch, from the very tip top stitch to the very last seam to list them all, and upon completion all his gifts could unfurl and flutter in the salty ocean air for all to see on its journey to sing his well earned praise.

Any far-flung traveler or hardy sailor fortunate enough to behold this sail would feel blessed to catch even just a glimpse of all he had a natural knack for, hopeful that maybe some of his natural talent could carry on the salty sea air and rub off on them too-

First and foremost, no one could sing a better sea shanty than he and that might as well have been Etherian law! Oh, perhaps he could speak with Queen Glimmer about making that reality...

With his lyrical rhymes crafted with all the care and technique of a poem and his voice as golden as the sun dancing in a sparkle over the ocean blue, no one was his equal when it came to song! No one was even close to being his match, except maybe for Bow, who was enthusiastic and liked to sing about how cool he was, and possibly even Swiftwind, who had a leg up (hoof up?) over the competition just on the principle of being the only singing, flying horse Seahawk had ever met. Neither one was even remotely close to his level, of course,  _ not really,  _ but he was a man of honor who gave credit where credit was due! Just another talent to add to the list right there, his  _ humbleness! _

And when it came to taking part in a thrilling all out brawl, his fists and feet simply knew no equal! He was tough but never brutish, agile but never skittish, and oh how beautifully his fists flashed through the air with each well-timed, flawless punch he threw, practically singing through the air like they were joining him for a duet in gratitude for how well he brawled. 

Of course, his talent for casual arson was also quite high on this list as well, with three ships, a gondola, and a restaurant already chalked up to his name (and official Etheria criminal record) but perhaps this particular skill was only slightly overshadowed by his best crowning achievement of them all-

His devilishly rogue good looks-

  
  


This self-indulgent daydream of Seahawk’s was brought to an abrupt halt with a crash of thunder and an explosion of dancing purple light and sparkle, which startled him enough to send him toppling from the chair he’d been worriedly slouched in as he awaited the return of good (please,  _ please let it be good)  _ word on the status of Salineas, and what more, his beloved Mermista who called the seaside kingdom her home.

The other princesses of the alliance who’d stayed behind with him were also in an anxious flurry around the glow at once, their eyes wide and searching, noticeable trembles to be found in the tips of their fingers and the slopes of their shoulders. Predictably, Perfuma’s eyes had already swimming with tears before anyone had even appeared from the bright and brilliant light.

Only Double Trouble seemed unaffected by the anxiety smothering the rest of the room from where they casually leaned in their prison spell, a wide and expectant smile stretching their smug, green face into something akin to eerie delight. It was a look Seahawk wanted to wipe from their face with both of his fists (or maybe even a smashed molotov bottle) more than anything. They did not need to worry for the arriving news because it was obvious they already  _ knew.  _ After all, they were the Horde spy the alliance had been trying to slueth out all night, the culprit Mermista had been excited (actually,  _ adorably _ excited) to catch by using her homeread detective skills.

She hadn’t just found out the spy. She had also found out of a horrible plan against her kingdom, one they might have been too late to stop.

_ Please,  _ Seahawk begged internally as he ran a trembling hand through his messy purple hair, not wanting Mermista to see him so anxious when she must have been doubly so herself.  _ Please let everything be okay! _

“Heheheh, soooo,” Double Trouble drawled into the swirl of sparkles as if this was all some grand and delightful show and not a war where innocent lives were at stake of being lost forever, “What did I tell you,  _ hmmmm?  _ Was I right, orrrr was I right?”

Queen Glimmer was the first to emerge from the light of her teleportation magic back in the grand dining hall of Brightmoon Castle, and the dark and punishing look that raged in her eyes more fiercely than the storm beating against the windows outside said all Seahawk needed to know, but did not  _ want to believe,  _ about what state they’d found the kingdom in.

He was already to his feet when Adora and Bow appeared moments behind her, and being supported between them by either arm, unable to stand on her own with her knees knocked tightly together in shock, head slumped down and lolling against her chest in unspeakable grief, was-

“Mermista!”

Seahawk could not get to her fast enough, pull her limp and trembling body into his chest tightly enough, as Adora and Bow gingerly passed her from their arms to his. He did not falter even as she sank to the floor, unable to stand under the crushing weight of all the destruction she had just bore witness to, and simply slid down to the floor with her, cradling her in his lap as she sobbed in the crook of his neck, dampening his scarf with her tears as she simply pleaded over and over and over, to herself, to the Horde, to a world cruel enough to let this happen to her people at all,

“No...No… _ nooo!” _

As he gently rocked her back and forth in his lap, desperate to bring her even any comfort at all in her grief, Seahawk realized with a hairline fracture working its way painful and deep through the entirety of his heart that for every single, wonderful thing he was capable of and could do with ease, there was one dire thing he simply could  _ not do,  _ and probably never ever could. A blank, empty spot on his sprawling sail of success.

And that was stand to see Mermista in so much pain.

  
  


“Are you...umm,  _ comfortable,  _ in there? Mermista? ... _ My love? _ ”

In the following silence, Seahawk listened to his voice echo against the tall gleaming walls of the royal washroom he currently found himself in. Instinctively his ears couldn’t help but perk up in realization at how beautifully a song would carry in the swell of the room’s acoustics, how majestic and grand even the most modest of shanty would sound in such a space, but….

For once in the flamboyant pirate’s life, there was simply no song to be found in his aching heart.

He had been given the sole task of watching over Mermista while everyone else took care of the immediate aftermath of Salineas falling to the Horde’s control. The Queen and the spooky shadow lady who followed her around like a- well, shadow, took charge of dragging off Double Trouble for a more thorough interrogation of their motives and the Horde’s next plan of action. Adora and Bow had rushed off to begin gathering all of Brightmoon’s available generals and their troops, wasting no time in forging plans to rescue the citizens of Salineas at any cost. Seahawk had enlisted himself as their first soldier right away, insisting that he would lead the very line of attack. Squaring his chin high and brave over Mermista’s trembling body, he had made it clear to them both with all his usual good humor and cheer aside that this was not so much a request on his behalf as it was a simple fact of the matter.

Sensing his resolve, the swell of his righteous fury, neither one of his friends had argued with him on that, and he had been grateful for it.

As for the other princesses, while as heartbroken for Mermista as they were, they understandably had to depart for their own kingdoms at once. If Salineas, supposedly undestructable from where it towered beyond the great Sea Gate could fall so quickly and so quietly under the Alliance’s nose, who was to say their’s couldn’t either? They would not let their people, or even themselves become victims to the Horde’s tyranny. There was no way they’d allow themselves to end up like…

“Mermista?”

He inquired once again as he poked a forlorn finger into the warm water of the bath. The water’s surface rippled and rang with the motion, and it only made him feel worse to hear how feeble he sounded with all the sadness choking up his heart like black smoke from a fire. 

Seahawk stared down at his own reflection wavering back at him in the bubbly surface of the bathtub he was leaning against, the one Mermista had claimed as her own private retreat to woefully process the fall of her kingdom, and wondered if she had even heard his question from where she had sunk herself deep down to the bottom to hide. Only the turquoise gleam of her siren’s tail protruded from the tub’s depths, where it flopped over the side of the tub as limp and unmoving as kelp spit up from a receding tide.

Not a single irritated swish or impatient slap to be found.

The sight of it hanging so pitifully still only intensified Seahawk’s worry for his beloved, and he peered even closer down into the water, desperate to catch a glimpse of Mermista’s brown eyes glaring back up at him or even the thick rope of her braid floating like a dark eel beneath the water. He was startled from his search by the hollow clink of a glass bottle beside his shifting foot, and looked down at just one of the  _ dozens  _ of now empty scented bath soap bottles that Mermista had poured one after another into the tub in rapid succession before flinging herself down like a sack of rocks inside of it, fully clothed. They had turned the water into a near opaque concoction with all their heavy oils and fragrances, and the air around him was humid and thick with both the steam from the heated water and the almost overwhelming perfume from all of them mixed together.

_ While this is certainly to Princess Perfuma’s taste, it’s definitely not to Mermista’s usual preferences. Nor mine! _

He frowned down at his appearance with a scrunch of his nose, grimacing at what he saw staring back at him. His usually perfectly spiked hair hung in a pitiful droop against his forehead, and his moustache lay slick and flat over his upper lip as opposed to its jaunty and handsome curl. He looked utterly ridiculous! It was absolutely awful, if Mermista were to him like that she’d probably laugh herself to-

Struck with sudden and brilliant inspiration, Seahawk’s self-conscious frown turned into a bright and confident beam at once, and he winked down at himself with a swell of pride.

_ Seahawk, you’re not just the most handsome, dashing pirate of all the seas but a genius to boot too! Surely a sight this silly will at least make her smile! _

Quickly raking his fingers in a straight drop through his hair’s already tragic state just to make himself look especially more ridiculous, he leaned a little closer to the water’s surface and cried out with all the over the top dramatics of a hammy actor, “Oh, woe is me! My stylish, beautiful hair has fallen to the humidity of all this steam, like majestic sails devoid of the wind’s sweet heavenly kiss! Ohhh, if my love was to see me looking so uncouth, surely she would laugh herself to tears! I can only pray that she does not rise from the depths like the beautiful, watery goddess she is to mock my sorry state! Ohhhh-oh? Ah! Alas, here she is now!  _ My love!” _

A stream of bubbles erupting from beneath the surface suddenly caused his reflection to ripple and break, his mirrored face staring up at him replaced entirely by Mermista’s as she finally peeked out from beneath the water just enough to glare at him. 

The mere sight of her swollen, red-rimmed eyes hurt him so much more than the way they were narrowed in annoyance at him in that moment and he tried his best to keep his expression free of his own pain, managing an awkward, forced smile instead.

When she finally spoke to him, her first real words since returning from checking on Salineas, her voice was small and hoarse from all the crying she had done, the sound a far and unusual change from its usual deadpanned sarcasm. Usually a princess of such mental fortitude, of unbreakable and stylish chill, it was the kind of change in tone that really drove home that no matter how hard she pretended not to care about anything or anyone, at the end of the day, Mermista had a heart like any other normal girl and in fact cared very deeply to those she held dear.

And oh, how lucky he was to be considered one of those precious few! That Mermista cared for him so much and so tenderly-

“Seahawk, you idiot. I told you not to call me that…Seriously,  _ my love _ ?” She huffed in exasperation, rolling her eyes up toward the high, jewel encrusted vaulted ceiling before swiftly shutting them tight again. She might have had looked right into the brilliant chandelier lighting up the entire room but Seahawk wasn’t entirely sure. “It’s so corny.”

It wasn’t the laughter or even the smile he’d been hoping for with his little act, but the fact she chose to stay up above the surface with him instead of immediately sinking back down alone still managed to stir his heart right up in encouragement.

“Ah! Haha, sorry about that myyyy- _ mmmm!" _ Seahawk swiftly bit down on his tongue and held up his hands in open palm surrender at the water daggers the ocean princess had conjured in response to his near slip, and scrambled to correct himself, "Mermista! I am sorry about that,  _ Mermista  _ is absolutely what I was going to call you and not some other, uhh,  _ corny  _ name that describes what you mean to me! I'm sorry!"

There wasn’t even a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she let the daggers fall back into the tub with a splash, but apparently pleased enough with his rushed apology, she almost sounded like her usual self as she muttered, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Seahawk couldn’t help but smile just a little bit at how familiar her tone was with him in that moment, how even after a tragedy so life-changing this one simple routine could remain unchanging between them, and reached out to brush a loose tendril of hair that was sticking to her cheek back into the water and behind her ear. And then he kept his hand resting there beside her face, cupping her cheek into his palm where he gently rubbed his thumb over the arch of her cheekbone. 

His voice was uncharastically somber, and quiet in its sincerity then when he mumbled again, “I’m… I really am sorry for what happened to you and your people tonight. Truly, I am.”

And from the bottom of his heart, he was.

Sometimes, when the Rebellion was on a solid winning streak, or they found the time to laugh and have a moment of fun with everyone in a strategy meeting or a mission or...or even a spy hunt throughout the castle, it was surprisingly easy to forget that they were in the middle of a war not just a bunch of kids playing some really,  _ really _ intense made up game of pretend.

If something as despicable as war could even be considered a game, it was certainly one that was never played fairly. It was a game where the heroes didn't always win against the bad guys like they should, where Lady Luck did not always kiss the brow of the heroic and just. And it was game that rather than reward its players, all it did was take-

_ Queen Angella… _

And take…

_ The trust and friendship between the princess alliance…. _

And take....

_ Mermista’s kingdom. Her people. Her home. Her happiness, and in turn… mine too. _

“Oh no you don’t.”

Sniffing back tears of his own, Seahawk was pulled from the downward spiral of his thoughts by the triton-sharp edge of Mermista’s voice, of her black nailed fingers suddenly gripping his hand tight from where he still had it nestled against her face.

He assumed she meant there was no way he was to try to be so affectionate with her, not when she was struggling so, and in an immediate and apologetic fluster, went to retract his hand back to his side to give her all the space she needed to collect her thoughts.

“O-oh! Please, forgive me, Mermista! I've overstepped my bounds and overstayed my time here with you, like a seagull who will not leave a picnic on the beach simply be! I...I can’t begin to imagine how many thoughts and feelings you are wrestling with now, ones that you surely must want to process in your own company. Again, you have my apologies! If you will relent your rather… umm, intense grip on my hand I will take my leave at once! I truly do not want myself to be a burden to you with everything else you’re dealing-”

_ “Don’t!” _

Attempting to rise in a clumsy hurry to his feet, he had gone to retract his hand back to his side completely when Mermista’s shout echoed throughout the cavern like washroom and startled him into stillness once more, his heart thumping painful and scared in his chest at the noise.

Mermista  _ never  _ shouted. Not even when he had set their gondola ablaze in the tunnel of love on one of their first dates in tribute to the burning passion he felt for her in his heart. Or when in the spirit of adventure he had burnt down her generous gift of the Dragon’s Daughter….and then again with the Dragon’s Daughter 2. Sure, she would grow dark in the face and trembling in the fists, but rather than raise her voice like a howling typhoon, she was more inclined to muttering long strings of sailor curses that could bring even his cheeks to a bright and timid blush.

Somehow, the fact that her fury was so quiet only made her that much more frightening, and in turn, in Seahawk’s opinion, anyways…

_ That much more attractive... _

So to hear her cry out as she had just then, the sound less of an angry roar and more of a small wave crashing and breaking into foam feebly on the shore rattled him deeply, enough so that for probably the first time in his entire life- Seahawk was at a loss of words.

He was also quite surprised that his hand, caught in a trap under her own, was still cradling her face at all. He had been expecting her to fling it away from her cheek in disgust like she would a slimy piece of kelp, so it was like one grand surprise after another when instead she clamped it even more tightly against her face, like she wanted him to keep it there. Like she wanted to keep  _ him  _ there.

Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, and it was obvious that the droplets of water dancing on her thick lashes was from more than than the bathwater alone. Beneath his trapped fingers Seahawk could feel the way she was gnashing and gritting her teeth together, how desperately she was fighting to maintain her composure after her initial outburst. The way her breath was coming out in short, frantic bursts from her nose was evidence enough to prove how poorly that fight was going in her favor.

“Just... _ don’t,  _ okay?” She finally rasped, turning her face deeper into the palm of his hand. It broke his heart into a million pieces to hear how tired she was, how defeated she sounded. She kept her eyes shut as she explained to him in a voice exhausted of trying to play everything off as a mere annoyance, a voice cracking under the weight of the burden that had been swiftly and mercilessly dropped onto her unsuspecting back-

“Don’t go. I don’t  _ want  _ you to go, okay? And I don’t want you to sound so...so sad when you talk to me because you’re Seahawk and like, always singing or joking and just being stupidly loud for no good reason so when even  _ you  _ are being serious like this- _ uugghh!” _ She slapped her tailfin down against the water in frustration like she would bring down a blade, soaking him entirely from his head down to his waist, but neither one of them unclasped their hands for even a second. Instead, Mermista turned over on her side facing him so that as well as having a solid grasp on his hand she could also grip onto his arm, and with a heavy sigh she leaned up out of the water just enough so that she could plunk her face down right into the leather of his forearm gauntlet. Her next words were muffled by the fabric, sure, but also hushed with a level of emotion that was exceedingly rare for her to display as well. 

Hesitating only for a moment, wondering if she would be more upset if he didn’t hear what she was saying or for what he’d have to do in order to catch her words, Sea Hawk decided to risk the latter and softly tipped his head down so that they could be cheek to cheek instead, his chin nestled atop of her shoulder and nose poked into the water-soaked poof of her hair.

She didn’t splash him, or shove him, or shrug him off at all. In fact, she nestled her head a little closer into his and simply allowed herself to begin venting. Her breath was as warm and soft in his pierced ear as her words were cold and broken in tone.

“Don’t you get it? That even  _ you  _ of all people are being serious right now... It just makes it all the more real. That the Horde has my kingdom. And like all of my cool stuff. And you know, all the stuff my parents left me. All the stuff I have left _ of them _ . And... and all of my people I was supposed to be protecting with my life like a good- gosh, you know what? How about even just a somewhat  _ decent _ princess should! And I don’t want that to be true. I don’t want  _ any  _ of this to be true, or even like happening at all, Seahawk. I just don’t want  _ anything  _ right now. I don’t want to be acting like some dumb crybaby in this really fancy, too small bathtub that can’t even fit my tail, and I don’t want to be a part of this stupid war fighting against the stupid Horde and all their dumb robots anymore. And yet,  _ ha! _ Here I am!” She barked out a sound that was almost like a laugh, and her shoulders even quickly rose and dipped with it too, but there was no genuine mirth or joy or even her usual sarcasm to be found in its echo. It sounded like a tattered white flag of surrender snapping in the wind, of a grand sea vessel being reduced to mere splinters by cannon fire. She let out a low, deep sigh, and just barely angled her head up enough to peek into his face. 

Either she found the worried, stricken look crumpling up his entire face like tissue amusing or she finally noticed just how silly he looked utterly drenched like he’d been trying to show her earlier, but Mermista managed a tiny, tight as a drum smile in that moment as she finally admitted like a confession being spoken on the gallows deck-

“But, hey, Seahawk? Right now, most of all, I don’t want… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

And then the smile was gone, and she let out a small, completely broken hiccup of a sob that instinctively caused Seahawk to lean closer over the edge of the tub to extend her his other hand.

Mermista hoisted him into the tub to join her with ease and a loud splash that sent water cascading over the edge of the tub and all over the floor. The empty glass bottles surrounding the tub clinked like a poorly timed cheers in the sudden flood. Neither one of them cared to notice the mess for themselves, though, or how incredibly uncomfortable it was to be cuddling so close in bulky, wet clothes and a scaly tail. Seahawk had been tossed from too many docks and walked off too many planks in his lifetime to be bothered by the weight of soaked clothes anymore. Especially then. 

After the events of the night, those sorts of problems were miniscule in comparison, they simply didn’t matter at all. Tub water could be mopped up. Clothes could be hung to dry from a line.

_ But broken homes, broken hearts…Those are so much harder to fix.  _

Seahawk pressed a small, damp kiss into Mermista’s forehead as she clung onto him and wept once more, crying not just for herself but for all the innocent people of her kingdom who’d come to know the terror of the Horde. Her tears, salted with anguish and burning with fury. Even as she fell apart in his arms, Seahawk could already see her rising again in his mind’s eye, the Mermista he loved so much. The one who was powerful and unshakable, who took no nonsense from anyone, especially from himself. The one who without a doubt was going to reclaim her throne and save her subjects from the clutches of evil.

She just needed some time to recharge is all.

When her sobs finally subsided into loud, wet sniffles, and then those died further down into mere shaky breaths, Mermista finally leaned away from him to tiredly rub the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Looook, I am so sick of crying today so if you could please just be how you normally are and not like,  _ oh poor Mermista _ that would be just greeeat.”

“ _ Poor?  _ Now why would I ever look at someone as incredible, as beautiful as you Mermista and think anything less than  _ wow!”  _ He dropped his arms from where he’d had them encircled around her back to take hold of her hands, placed a sweet kiss right over her knuckles. “ _ Poor Mermista?  _ Oh no, puh-lease! More like-” he paused to clear his throat and draw in a great and powerful breath as he announced his beloved with all of the glory and proper drama she deserved, “ _ The great and powerful Sea-Ra!” _

It was one of Mermista’s little secrets how much she enjoyed referring to herself by this nickname, how much confidence and power it inspired within herself whenever she did so. It made her feel like not just another princess in the alliance, but a true blue hero all her own.

In Seahawk’s eyes, she already was, and always had been. But tonight it seemed like she needed the reminder for herself.

Her eyes blinked wide with surprise as he cheered and chanted her on,  _ Sea-Ra! Sea-Ra! Sea-Ra!,  _ and when Mermista looked down to see that they were still tenderly hand in hand, she slammed her fists back down into the water with an embarrassed splash, and was suddenly much more preoccupied with staring at something on the opposite side of the washroom where absolutely nothing of interest was. 

“S-stop it.” She muttered, swiping at her nose which had turned the most adorable shade of red Seahawk had ever seen. “Stop calling me that. I am  _ not  _ Sea-Ra anymore.”

Completely aghast at her declarement, Seahawk, who had been drawing in a deep and powerful breath to launch into a song specially dedicated to Sea-Ra’s beauty and power, choked on all the empty air and was practically weeping as he braced himself against the edge of the tub and demanded to know, his voice only cracking a little, “W-what? No more Sea Ra? B-but, but, Mermista!  _ Why?!” _

She didn’t answer him right away,and instead slouched herself lower and lower into the tub as if she meant to resubmerge herself and disappear as she had done earlier. She only sank herself down as far as her chin, though, her face withdrawn into an expression of deep burning shame. When she spoke, her voice was thick with resentment, and her gaze was fixed steadfast not on his worried face hovering above her but on her own reflection she was practically eye to eye with. It made it difficult for Seahawk to tell who she was trying to convince, him or herself.

“Because Sea Ra is a totally cool hero who always saves the day. Sea Ra is strong and smart and she doesn’t run around playing detective like an algae-brained idiot while her people are under attack. Sea Ra is actually  _ good _ for something. And I’m…”

Eyes glaring cold and hateful towards her own self, Mermista let out a long and heavy exhale through her nose as she admitted aloud to him, to herself too, “And I’m not. I couldn’t save anyone at all today. I’m just some stupid girl who was too weak to stop the Horde from taking over her entire kingdom and enslave all her people. I’m literally  _ just _ Mermista now. Princess of Nothing to the Kingdom of Nowhere…”

She let out a miserable little sigh, and that time really did begin to slip back under the water’s surface when quick as a flung dagger Seahawk snatched her tightly by the shoulders and hoisted her back up, “W-what?! Hey, Seahawk! What are you-”

“ _ Mermista.” _

He was well aware that she had commanded him not to be serious anymore that evening, that it would hurt her deeply if he did. But to hear her talk about herself so terribly like that, so blind to her own cruelty, Seahawk simply could not let that stand. He’d rather choose to walk the plank in stone boots than ever hear her put herself down so unjustly like that again.

Still holding onto her tightly, he reminded her in a voice that as stern as it was, still had unconditional love cushioning each and every syllable, “That is not true. Everything you said about yourself just now is complete and utter nonsense! You complain about the levels of authenticity in all my retellings of my grand adventures, but how can you expect me to believe even a single word of what you said just now? Come on!  _ Stupid? Weak?!” _

He spat the last two words out like they left a bad aftertaste on his tongue. They were words that had absolutely no place  _ ever _ being used to describe Mermista, especially coming from her own mouth. 

“Those words do not come close to describing the Mermista that I know!" He insisted passionately, and when she dropped her gaze heavy and disbelieving back towards the water, her silence heavy as an anchor on his shoulders, he reached out and tipped her head back up to look at him once more with a gentle push of his knuckles below her chin. Her eyes were getting dark and watery again. His voice was soft with affectionate as he smiled at her, hoping she'd follow suit, "Those words serve no justice to the Mermista I  _ love." _

His words seemed to strike her as effectively as the spears of her own trident, and Seahawk believed he'd finally gotten through to her. He watched as the red on the tip of Mermista's nose rapidly spread all the way across her cheeks and to the tips of her ears, like a field of roses bursting into bloom beneath her dark skin. A gleam different than the threat of fresh tears caught in the brown of her eyes as she stared up at him, her mouth hanging open in a little ‘o’ of shock.

It had been a very long time since he had last told her that he loved her. Yet the words, the feelings themselves, were always right there in the forefront of his mind and heart. Their time apart had done nothing to diminish them, and if anything, had only served to make them stronger.

Absence, as they say. 

Sure he had a daily quota of shamelessly flirting with her at least fifteen times a day minimum, and he tried to crowbar a smile out of her at least once a day with any silly joke or over the top dramatics he could manage, but this was different. 

Seahawk hadn't said it for the sake of a laugh, and not even in the spirit of adventure. He had said it because he truly meant it, and because he wanted her to know, more than anything-

"You haven't lost  _ everything _ , Mermista." He reminded her as gently as he could. "I know it's not much of anything, but.." His smile momentarily faltered under the weight of his own self doubt, but he smothered it to death under the weight of a new grin that was strong enough for both of them to believe in. "But you still have me by your side and that is where I shall stay until every last citizen of Salineas has been rescued and the kingdom itself is back under your rightful rule!" And then, in an embarrassed rush of breath he added quickly, "Oh! And the others too, of course! You have the power of my love  _ and  _ the friendship of every other princess in etheria! Wow, talk about a mighty combination!  _ Ha ha ha!  _ Haaa... _ ahem.” _

Feeling both the topic and the mood drifting far off course in the wake of his bellowing laughter, Seahawk awkwardly cleared his throat and turned his gaze towards Mermista with a renewed sense of determination, of adoration for her. “Mermista, when I look at you, I see so many wonderful things! I see someone who is as strong as the ocean as deep, with a heart as golden as all the treasure sunken in its depths. I see someone I know I can trust completely, both with my life in battle and in lending me only the Mer-Mysteries books that are worth reading through to the end! In my eyes, you aren’t just a powerful princess, but a whip-smart ace detective and and the strongest arm-wrestling champ this side of the great blue!” He reached out and clutched her well-defined bicep with a hearty laugh just to help make his point, and then blushed deeply at just how muscular she really was. He quickly allowed himself another quick squeeze just to be certain. And then another just because he was completely smitten with her and all of her muscles.

Mermista, completely shell shocked after his confession and barrage of positive encouragement, allowed him to do so all three times with her jaw slack and face inflamed hotter and brighter than any of Seahawk’s past boats had been. She finally made a move when he went in for a  _ fourth  _ delighted squeeze of her arm muscles, and as if awakening from a trance, went to slap his hand away with an indignant huff. 

“Alright, that’s enough Seahawk!” She snapped, and for a moment she sounded just like her usual self, unamused and unshaken by whatever nonsense the world (or Seahawk himself) tried to throw her way.

What more, rather than simply toss his hand aside once she’d effectively peeled it off of her, she chose to keep it cradled in her own grip instead. And then she gave it a tight, appreciative squeeze, and mumbled through an embarrassed, tight lip pout, “J-jeez… You’ve always had a way of just laying it all down at once... It’s why you suck so much at playing cards, you know?”

And then she gave him a small, bashful smile to show she meant no harm in her teasing, and that ignited Seahawk’s heart like a carnival gondola under a molotov. He burst into bright and adoring laughter at her call out, which only served to widen Mermista’s own grin just a little bit more. “Ha ha ha! When it comes to card games, Lady Luck favors the brave and the bold, my dearest! All or nothing as they say!”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes at his exuberant confidence, the way it echoed and rolled up the bathroom walls as loud as cannon fire, “Riiiight. Just like that time you bet all of your clothes in that game of poker with the Buff Barnacles gang? How’d your all or nothing strategy work out for you, then? You remember?”

“W-well! Now that! T-that was!” Now it was Seahawk’s turn to blush, the bright red heat creeping its way from beneath his scarf all the way up to his black headband. Ohhh, how he longed to forget that night! That cold, cold, so breezy between his knees night...

When Mermista quirked a knowing, smug brow up at him, a smirk playing on the corners of her lips as she recalled the same humiliating memory, he barely managed to sputter out in weak excuse, “H-hey now! Those guys were cheaters! I have no doubt in my mind that I should have been the winner of that game! Surely they must have been spying on my cards…!”

Mermista snorted, and gave him a playful splash from her tail to help cool down the terrible heat burning up his face. He was half surprised the water didn’t sizzle and evaporate on contact as she mocked him further, “Ooohh, everyone definitely spied a lot more than  _ just _ your cards that night if you know what I mean.” She paused a beat just to wiggle her thick eyebrows at him before reminding him of what he was obviously already quite well aware of, “You were naked.  _ Eeeeverbody  _ in that tavern saw you naked.”

The word  _ naked _ hung between them in a deep silence. Mermista looking smug and victorious as could be, Seahawk looking as mortified as he’d been ducking and diving behind chairs and tables on the night in question, desperate for the only time in his life to  _ not  _ be seen. It was a silence that in Seahawk’s mind seemed to stretch on for centuries before it was broken by a loud, unladylike snort from Mermista, which like the first tumbling pebble preceding a landslide, quickly gave way into full out peals of emotionally unhinged, hysterical laughter.

_ She deserves this.  _ Seahawk thought fondly as Mermista slapped her face into her hands and continued to snort and laugh to herself in muffled madness. It was obvious that she was reacting less in genuine amusement to the memory of his past poker night misfortune and more so to the insane amount of emotional whiplash the night had put her through, her poor heart a tiny dingy in a roiling sea of difficult feelings.  _ Better to laugh it out than cry! She can’t just drown all she’s feeling in this tub…I know she’s strong enough to conquer this! _

It took awhile for the sea princess to collect herself from the throes of her outburst, and when she finally did, she used the back of her hand to swipe at fresh tears that were dancing on the edges of her lashes. But when she turned her gaze Seahawk’s way, her eyes were noticeably brighter, definitely seeing the world a little more clearer around her, and Seahawk smiled at her encouragingly. 

“Feeling any better, my love?” He asked her, opening up his arms in warm invitation.

“Seahawk, seriously?” Her eyes narrowed at his persisting use of the corny pet name, and her smile immediately snuffed out into her usual glower, but without hesitation she leaned forward and let herself fall limp and heavy into his embrace. Her breath was warm and ticklish on the part of his neck not obscured by his scarf as she muttered, “You know what? Forget about it. I’m over it. Call me whatever you want, I don’t care.” 

He chuckled, and tightened his grip on her even more securely as he inquired, hopefully, “Even…  _ Sea Ra?” _

Clonking her face deep into the crook of his shoulder and neck, it made the groan she exhaled out sound almost comical in how heavily muffled it was, her words even more so as she whined, "Ugghhh, please don’t start the Sea Ra thing again. I'm too sad and too tired to deal with it…I’m too sad and too tired to deal with  _ anything,  _ anymore.”

“Mermista, you know what I think?” 

For the first time in their relationship, Sea Hawk was the one who braced his hands on Mermista’s shoulders and pushed  _ her  _ away from him. He wanted to deliver this pep talk right to her face. He wanted her to see the sincerity in his eyes, the fire of his belief in her raging hot and passionate in them like an inferno that could not be extinguished.

He wanted her to believe in herself the way that he did, entirely and without a single shadow of a doubt.

Also, frankly… he wasn’t sure how good his breath smelled that late into the night and he didn’t want her to make fun of him in case it was less than pleasant. His ego was still just a teensy bit bruised from bringing up the poker incident after all.

"You… are a wave!” He assured her with all the faith in his heart, hoping to raise her spirits, and something about her certainly did rise at his words- her one eyebrow, arching up high in confusion while the other sank low to give him her ego-destroying stink eye.

“A..wave?” She parroted back, looking down at the hands that had shoved her back and promptly folding her own arms tightly across her chest in retaliation. “Seahawk, what does that even mean? I’m a wave? Like...hello? Make more sense, please!”

“Umm!” He faltered, having had no time to rehearse this particular motivational speech or even think it up at all.

_ And Mermista is the toughest crowd there is!  _ He panicked internally, pulling at any mental straw he could possibly draw to springboard off of.

“Uhhh, it means that you, Mermista! Will! Umm...rise?”

Seahawk slapped a triumphant fist into his open palm even as Mermista blinked at him in perplexed annoyance. 

_ Yes, rise! Way to go, Seahawk, what a brilliant start! There’s your spark now where is the flame of inspiration!? _

“Helloooo? Etheria to Seahawk, are you there? Still waiting on the whole make sense part here!” 

The inspiration came in the form of Mermista impatiently flicking her wrist and sending a spray of water right between his eyes, bringing him back to attention. In the split second before being splashed, he saw the way the bathwater reared back, as if shrinking away, only to burst forth with power and confidence. It moved just as real waves did against the shore, especially the bigger, stronger ones. 

Ecstatic he had found the jumping point for his pep talk, Seahawk began in a righteous bellow loud enough to make even Mermista startle a bit, “Yes! Mermista, the inner strength that dwells within your big and beautiful heart is that of a tidal wave! Just think about it!” He abruptly stood up from the tub, water gushing forth from his clothes, so he could balance one soggy boot on the edge of the tub and really launch into his speech at full power, stretching his arms out far above his head as if to mimic the very natural disaster he spoke of.

“The greatest, most powerful of tidal waves don’t just appear out of nowhere!  _ No!  _ They take the time to pull back and recede further and further away from where they actually  _ want _ to be. They leave the shore exposed, even when it seems like they should be there.”

Mermista dropped her eyes at this analogy so he was quick to hurry on to make his point with an extreme flourish of his hand pointing up towards the ceiling,

“ _ But fear not!  _ They are not cowards in doing this, but  _ mighty!  _ For every inch they retreat, why, that is just more power they gain! By momentarily returning in on itself, by seemingly disappearing into the darkest depths of the sea, it is only here that the wave finds the strength it did not know it possesses to crash hard upon the shore and reclaim its territory once more. Mermista, you must understand that myself and everyone of the alliance knows this is also true of you. No one here is judging you for taking the time to mourn your loss, and absolutely no one  _ blames  _ you for the cruelty that has befallen Salineas. I have no doubt in my mind that once you harness the storm raging in your heart, Sea Ra will rise up like a great and powerful tidal wave once more and  _ crush _ the Horde like mere sand in her wake, saving both your kingdom and most importantly, your people! Salineas won’t just survive this, but it will come out stronger than ever before and it will be all because of your own inner strength! I, the great and handsome Seahawk believe in Salineas! And what more!” 

On a complete and utter roll by this point in his gospel, his chest heaving and nostrils flaring with his roaring passion, Seahawk snapped his arm from pointing up above his head to the stunned girl gawking at him from the tub and declared like it was the only truth in the world that truly mattered to him, “I believe in  _ you,  _ my dearest Sea Ra!”

He barely had the time to catch his breath and compose himself before Mermista used tendrils of water to drag his over dramatic self back into the tub beside her, her forehead slapped deep into her palm in second hand embarrassment. She wouldn’t even look at him for awhile as she breathed deeply in and out through her nose, her eyebrows pinched tightly together in frustrated thought. 

The sight of her so annoyed with him combined with her ongoing silence was like an anchor strapped heavy and fatal to Seahawk’s heart, which with every passing second she refused to acknowledge him sent it sinking further and further into the depths of his stomach.

When she finally lifted her face from her hand, she didn’t seem impressed by him or what he’d told her in the slightest, her brows heavy over her eyes and her mouth a flat, expressionless line.

Chewing on his lip worriedly, Seahawk dared to inquire her opinion, his tone wounded, “Don’t you...don’t you have anything to say in response?”

She surprised him by nodding her head once in agreement, her braid sliding forward onto her shoulder with the motion with a wet slap. “Actually, yeah, I do. Two things, actually. So like, listen up because I am  _ not  _ gonna repeat myself. Got it?”

Perplexed, Seahawk mirrored her single nod right back to her in nervous silence.

"Okay,  _ one-"  _ she pointed up a single black painted nail like she meant to call down a bolt of lightning from the sky to smite him, "Stop _ yelling _ . The echo in here is sooo bad it’s making it sound like there are like, five hundred of you and I can barely tolerate even  _ one  _ Seahawk as it is. I’m pretty sure all of Etheria heard you just now. That wasn’t just a pep talk for me, that was a pep talk for everything that has ears on this entire planet.”

Rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck, Seahawk tried hard not to pout as he mumbled half-heartedly, “O-oh...why of course. S-sorry about that...I did get a bit, uhh, carried away there, didn’t I?”

Mermista’s singular pointed finger was joined by her thumb as she measured between them exactly how carried away he had gotten. “Umm, yeah.  _ Just a bit.” _

Seahawk looked up at her from under his dripping wet bangs, his face flushed with embarrassment from her scolding as he worriedly asked, “And...two?”

With a roll of her eyes, Mermista let out a huff, dropping her arms from where she’d had them tightly crossed in front of her chest. “Oh, right. And two…”

There was a weird scrunch in the bridge of her nose as she hesitated to disclose her second point, and Seahawk was deathly worried that he didn’t even want to know what is was.

_ Ohhhh please don’t break up with me again, pretty please with gold doubloons on top don’t dump me again…. _

She suddenly averted her gaze from him with darkened cheeks like he was a light far too bright for her to behold directly, her lips quirked in a strange line and brows pinched together like she had just remembered something very peculiar- when out of nowhere both her arms were tight around his neck and she was crushing him into a wild, breathless kiss.

She kissed him so hard that it almost hurt, as if she was trying to pass off just a little bit of her own pain onto him instead. And Seahawk, with his head spinning and heart dancing the giddiest of jigs within his ribcage, would have happily taken all of her pain if she so wanted. All of her tears and all of her heartache and all of her anger, he would have drank it all like the sweetest of wines if it would spare Mermista even a single drop of despair herself.

He didn’t even have time to clutch her in return, his arms posed almost robotically square at chest level as he reached out to do so, before she shoved him off of her with a small gasp. Blinking at him furiously, like even she couldn't believe what she'd just done, she yanked her hands from where they clutched at his shoulders to push all of her thick and wild hair away from her face, which was red from below her chin to the very tips of her ears. “H-hmph! You know what, I’m adding a third thing to this list and that is for you to wipe that stupid, dumb, not cute look off your face right now before I drown it off of you, okay? Y-you hear me, Seahawk? Right  _ now.” _

Making absolutely no effort to wipe the stupid, dumb, not cute grin he could feel stretching out the entirety of his face, he asked with a wink full of stars and awe-struck affection, “Mermista, my sincerest apologies, but might you repeat your second point? I don’t believe I caught it so well the first time around.”

With a flourish, he retwirled his moustache with a spin of both his index fingers so it’d be out of the way and took the initiative in leaning in first, like a true gentleman would, and swooned “I promise that this time, I’ll be paying  _ perfect attention~!”  _

“Yeah... okay.”

Her easy, deadpan agreement to kiss him again thrilled Seahawk to bits, and with a giddy but still  _ very manly and tough as the sea  _ squeal, he readily puckered up for another one… only to let out another not nearly as manly shriek as Mermista tossed him out of the tub in a torrent of water with a blithe flick of her wrist.

“Yeeeah, I said go get me a snack.” She commanded over the edge of the tub where she had leaned over to stare at him. And though her lips were set in a thin, unsmiling line on her face once more, there was a little bit of spark dancing in the warm brown of her eyes too. “All this trauma has made me very hungry. How am I supposed to mope on an empty stomach?”

Sputtering and coughing up all the water that had found its way up his nose and down his throat with his eviction, Seahawk unfolded himself out of the crumpled heap he’d been dumped in so that he could capture her hand in his, just one more time. "L-leave it to me! There is no treasure nor snack that can escape the great and mighty Seahawk’s grasp once I’m on the hunt!  _ Especially  _ if it is for the sake of my dearest Mermista!”

He smiled at her brightly, excited to be doing something further to help cheer her up as he double checked with her, just to make sure of her preference, “Ice cream, right,  _ my love?  _ I know that’s your go to comfort food when one of your favorite characters perishes in a novel or the author breaks up one of your beloved romantic entanglements! I swear to you on my life that I won’t rest until every single carton of sweet dairy goodness is in your hands! Or, erm, stomach! I also vow to not forget the spoons so you don’t actually have to, you know, use your hands- _ mmmph!” _

With her hands smushed down on either side of his face, she sent him on his way with another deep and grateful kiss and a large tide of water that sent him crashing through the bathroom door legs flailing over behind and heart soaring over clouds.

  
  


No one, not even the strictest of Queen Glimmer’s guards, questioned Seahawk as he squelched into the kitchen long after midnight in his sopping wet clothes and flooded boots and proceeded to load up an entire burlap sack full of all the ice cream the kingdom had to offer. 

And he knew that he should have been thrilled as he packed away the pistachio almond, should have been pleased as punch as he loaded up on the rocky road. After all, he was doing the one thing that he considered his greatest and most precious skill of all- which was doing everything in his power to make Mermista happy. It certainly would have been easy enough to consider his efforts in the washroom a success. Not only had he been blessed by the sight of Mermista’s smile and the golden bell of her laughter (which were rare enough on a good day, let alone a nightmare like tonight) but she had also bestowed not just one, but  _ two  _ (two!!!) kisses onto his undeserving yet still very much handsome face. 

He should have been celebrating with canons and shanties and jigs galore! Hell, something this wonderful warranted the finest of ships going up in the hottest of flames!

_ And yet… _

“Have I truly done enough for her?” He questioned the reflection staring back at him from one of the kingdom’s finest silver spoons that he held aloft in his fist.

He sure didn’t feel like everything was okay. Not when Salineas and its citizens weren’t okay. Not when Mermista was still holed up in that blasted tub.

The rounded utensil warped his usual rugged features into something alien and ugly. His forehead was ten times bigger and his eyes five times smaller, changing him to look more like a giant moustachioed nose balanced on a twig neck than an actual person.

Asking such a stupid question out loud only made him feel as dumb as his spoon-self looked. Of _course _he hadn’t done enough to cheer his beloved yet! She was still stewing in her own sadness and cold bathwater even now, her only plan of action moving forward being to down an entire kingdom’s worth of frozen dessert. 

While his motivational speech had served as a foot stubbornly jammed in the doorway of Mermista’s depression, it wasn’t enough of a kick to blast it wide open and get her back into the game completely.

“What she needs is to be reminded of the strength she holds within herself, that tidal wave I was telling her about!” Seahawk insisted to his spoonself, pulling and smoothing his moustache back and forth in serious contemplation.

It always kind of gave him a headache to think so hard, and he winced at the pain beginning to throb in his temples as he thought in circles back and forth. “She needs to understand that more than anyone else, she is the one capable of liberating her kingdom from the atrocity of the Horde! But... _ how?!” _

Neither his reflection nor the guard stationed at the front of the kitchen offered him a response, though the tall, cloaked woman did cough awkwardly into her shoulder, just barely disguising an annoyed grumble under the commotion, “ _ Kids these days…” _

Hand already poised at the ready to launch the spoon to the floor in an outburst of frustration, the guard’s words brought Seahawk to an abrupt pause, his brain ticking on a countdown to an actual idea. “Kids…?” He parroted aloud, reeling the spoon back in towards his face to thunk it against his forehead in serious thought.

The beginnings of a brilliant idea beginning to break like the light of dawn in his brain, he just had to work towards it. The young pirate screwed his eyes shut tight and forced himself to think harder than he had ever thought about anything before. It pained him greatly to do so, but by keeping Mermista at the forefront of his mind, he found the strength to push through it. “Kid...mmm, kiiiiid? Kiiiid what? There’s something there, I can feel it in my very bones! But what is it? Think, Seahawk, think! For Mermista! For Sea Ra! For Salineas! You’re a genuis, Seahawk, a handsome genius with brains to match your brawn, now act like it! Oh, I got it! Perhaps singing my thoughts out loud  _ in song _ will help this wonderful idea bloom into fruition! Ahem-”

The brilliant idea was he was searching for came to him like a bolt of lightning in the split second he stopped to clear his throat before bursting into his song. It was merely a coincidence that at the same time, upon hearing his intention to start singing, the guard lamented aloud in exhausted despair from her post,

“Ohhhh, Moonstone! This is the last time I ever swap for the midnight shift!  _ I need a nap…” _

“That’s it! Ha ha! That is absolutely, positively  _ it!!!”  _ Seahawk let out a ear-splitting whoop of triumph, and launched himself atop the nearest counter he could find. Victories were always better celebrated off of the ground, after all! Extending his finger outward and upward towards the brighter future his idea would make come true, where Mermista wasn’t sulking in a bathtub and Salineas wasn’t under Horde rule, Seahawk declared with the utmost confidence in his idea, “Tomorrow I shall pay some old friends of mine a small monetary fee to pretend to kidnap me and Bow and Swiftwind during a boy’s night out at the tavern, which in turn will inspire Mermista to rally the others and come to our rescue, reminding her of her capabilities as both a princess of the alliance and as the hero of Salineas, Sea Ra!” 

Pleased as he could possibly be with himself, Seahawk rubbed his chin with a hearty, self-adoring chuckle. “Oh ho, Seahawk! You do always find ways to impress even yourself, don’t you? There’s no way this plan can possibly fail, ha ha! Well, first things first!  _ Hup!”  _

Shouldering the bulging sack of ice cream upon his back like he’d just completed a successful treasure hunt, Seahawk reminded himself with a wink and a playful roll of his eyes, “I better get all this ice cream to my girl before it melts! And then after that, it’s time for the best time of them all! And that is the time for-”

He was already sprinting down the hall, feeling like all the wind was in his sails, all the luck was on his side, and all the love was in his heart as he bellowed out in promise not just to himself, but to his dearest and unsuspecting Mermista as well,

_ “AAAADVENTUREEEEE!!!” _


End file.
